Hi, I'm Brooke!

I'm a Grand Rapids, MI photographer specializing in birth photography and family photojournalism. I like to teach other women how to use their DSLRs to photograph their families, too. I believe in the power of beauty and the beauty of the raw and ordinary.

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stacy has had babies in all the ways. her firstborn a hospital birth with epidural, the second a natural -- and very fast -- hospital birth (and he was born in the caul!). and this time she wanted to do it at home. she knew based on her previous birth that it would be quick and probably straight forward, making her a great candidate for it. she and her husband Nate chose Leslie of Midwifery Matters to attend her, and invited her bestie and co-doula, Kathy, at Serenity Holistic Health and Wellness and her sister to be present as well.

she was more than a week "overdue" before labor kicked in. when it finally DID, she knew there were three factors that influenced the timing. It's truly amazing how the MIND can impact what that body does when it comes to having babies. first of all, stacy and nate had poured so much love and energy into their home in the past year, redoing almost all of it from floor to ceiling. but there was ONE project that still needed doing before stacy could go into labor: the cabinet doors -- which had been removed and refinished -- needed to be re-hung. secondly, Serenity was hosting a huge breastfeeding awareness event that Saturday and stacy was in charge of lots of the organization for it. thirdly, a full moon. so on August 1st -- just a few hours after the cabinet project was finished, and in the early morning hours of the big breastfeeding event day, and the night after the full moon -- she began labor. she tried to deny it, but by dawn it was undeniable.

when i arrived at their home in the dim morning hours, stacy was pacing around the house preparing her birth space and also multi-tasking the coordination of event details. she stood at the bar in the kitchen, sending texts and talking on the phone, making sure everything was covered because she wouldn't be making it to the event that day. it was hard to believe she was in labor, except that she occasionally paused to focus and breathe.

as soon as the to-do list was all crossed off and her sister and bestie-doula came through the front door, things got serious. and they got serious FAST. within 15 minutes (?) -- following nate's prayers, and through just a couple pushes in the birth tub -- their baby boy came rocketing out into the world, caught by stacy herself. and i think everyone got a little teary.